Ways to Explore

In real life, we usually never get to invent ingenious solutions, like the guy in the old TV series MacGyver. Today, four real stories in which real people invent amazingly clever solutions to their problems.

There's a book called Prisoners' Inventions, by a California inmate who publishes under the pseudonym Angelo. He describes the ingenious devices prisoners build out of the rudimentary materials at hand. Actor Felix Solis reads excerpts. Our story was produced with help from Jonathan Menjivar; thanks also to Temporary Services. The book is available on the website whitewalls.org. (4 minutes) Criminal Justice • Science